Sydney Shield Rd 18 Preview

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The teams in the Sydney Shield are starting to assert their dominance and a few of the top eight spots are starting to firm up. Wentworthville sit on 26 competition point and a win this weekend would see them push out even further.

Windsor are a close second on 24 points, while three points separate third and sixth spot. These four teams, Mounties, Peninsula, Hills and East-Campbelltown, are in a fight of their own to determine who will make up the top four.

As we get deeper into the competition, each team still remains a mathematical chance of reaching the finals but some will need to work harder than others. There is a cluster of teams hanging around the top eight. The seventh and eighth placed Blacktown and Auburn are only one point clear of the ninth and tenth placed Cabramatta and Guildford.

Two of these teams will be facing off against each other this weekend with Guildford hosting Blacktown at McCredie Park on Sunday at 1pm. Both teams will be placing extra importance in this game as they fight for limited top eight spots.

Last time they met, Blacktown came out victorious 52-8, however Guildford have turned the screws since and will be looking for redemption.

“From the 17 that played that day, roughly half of the players have changed,” Guildford coach Todd McKeown said.

“We haven’t played for three weeks and we will be a bit rusty, but we are confident going into the game. We know that if we win we can leapfrog into the top eight so that’s going to be our motivation.

“The average age of our team is 19, so we just don’t have the experience. When we get on a roll and score a couple of tries we think we can score every set. We’ve been working on this and a couple of the young kids have been stepping up as leaders, which is fantastic.”

McKeown will be looking for Kurt De Luis to lead from the front and continue his good form to get his side home this weekend.